Haunted
by Kimmeth
Summary: The Cullens’ perfectly ordered world is turned upside down when Esme sees a face she never expected to encounter again. Suddenly the hunt is on, and there can be only one victor… post T pre NM. COMPLETE.
1. Chapter 1

The Cullens' perfectly ordered world is turned upside down when Esme sees a face she never expected to encounter again. Suddenly the hunt is on, and there can be only one victor… post T pre NM.

**Disclaimer:** I own nada except the idea.

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**Haunted**

**One**

**Esme**

"Tarragon. The perfect accompaniment to chicken and pork." Esme read aloud under her breath from the back of the herb box, and glanced down at the poultry fillets in her basket. When Edward had first started bringing Bella home for 'dinner', as she told Charlie, it had been Alice who had pointed out the paradox that she never actually ate whilst she was there, and that Charlie was bound to get suspicious if she kept coming home hungry. Esme had decided, there and then, that she was going to start cooking for Bella, despite her protests.

"It won't be any trouble," Esme had affirmed. "I'll enjoy it."

And she did enjoy it. Esme liked food, liked experimenting with it. She just didn't like eating her creations, so Bella had become a culinary guinea-pig of sorts, and some meals had proved to be more successful than others. Esme had decided to play it safe this time and use a recipe out of one of Rose's seemingly endless magazines, which was why she was currently standing in front of the herb racks in the local grocery store, in search of tarragon. She flicked open the lid of the box and sniffed delicately, but before she could get an idea of its piquancy, something else caught her nose, a scent that she had not sensed in a very long time. It was sharp and spicy, like old men's cologne. Esme froze.

It was the smell of her first husband.

A terrified chill crept up Esme's spine and she shivered involuntarily at the repressed memories of her former life that threatened to bubble to the surface.

"Don't be silly," she muttered to herself angrily. "That was too many years ago. He can't hurt you now."

She placed the tarragon in her basket and continued down the aisle, scolding her nose for playing tricks on her like that. But no matter how hard she tried to resist and think of other things, the scent still pervaded her perception and, if anything, seemed to strengthen as she wandered listlessly around the shop.

"Are you alright honey?" asked a stacker, arranging boxes of biscuits on a high shelf, peering at her from the top of a rickety stepladder. "You don't look at all well."

"I feel…" Esme began, but before she could answer 'fine', she saw him.

Standing at the end of the aisle, smiling his malicious, hungry smile and not looking an hour older than the day she'd pulled up all her courage and walked out of his home and his life, was Charles Evenson.

Esme's knees locked and she knew she was rooted to the spot, the way she always had been back then, when he used to walk through the front door, his footsteps getting closer and closer... The fear rose in her throat like bile, and had she had a heartbeat it would have increased tenfold. To think she used to live her life in this permanent state of terror…

Presently he began to speak, whisper really, in a tone so low and guttural that Esme knew that she, with her heightened senses, was the only one in the vicinity who could hear him.

"You ran away, Esme. That was bad. It took a long time but I tracked you down Esme, and it's time for me to take you back. I need to teach you a lesson, Mrs Evenson, a lesson you'll never forget."

Esme tried to scream but she couldn't articulate the sound. At the same time as she realised she had not been breathing during Charles's little speech, she felt her knees turn to water and give way beneath her. The basket left her hands and what would have been Bella's dinner skidded away down the aisle as she collapsed onto the cold tiled floor.

"Jesus Christ!" she heard the stacker exclaim as she slid down the ladder and ran over. "She's fainted! Help! Someone's collapsed! Call an ambulance!"

She hadn't fainted, Esme was sure of that. Vampires couldn't faint; they couldn't sleep; they never lost consciousness. But she was as unconscious as it was possible for her kind to be – body heavy and paralysed with fear, mind detached and going over the dreaded words again and again on a constant loop. She was aware of people gathering around her and exchanging worried murmurs that sounded, to her ears at least, as if they were shouting across the shop to each other. She could tell that someone was checking her vitals, that someone else was calling an ambulance.

"She's not breathing!" Hot fingers jammed into her jugular. "No pulse. When's the ambulance going to get here?"

Esme tried to groan; first aid was the last thing she needed, but there was nothing she could do as she felt someone's burning, slimy lips press against hers and force foul-tasting breath down her throat. She opened her eyes with some effort, not really concentrating on any of the concerned faces above her, and forced herself to breathe before she suffered the further indignity of having her blouse ripped open in a crowd of strangers for the second stage of CPR as they tried in vain to restart her lifeless heart.

"She's breathing."

Esme saw the gathered mass take a conscious step back ensemble, and she let herself close her eyes again, concentrating all her energy on continuing to breathe unnecessarily and reassuring the humans that she was still alive. She didn't want to move. She didn't want to see. Here, on the floor, lying semi-conscious surrounded by a host of panicked, unfamiliar faces, she was safe from whatever atrocities Charles had planned for her.

Don't be stupid, she told herself crossly. Charles is long gone. His time on this Earth was up many years ago. Be rational.

Esme was still going over it in her mind as they loaded her into the ambulance and set off towards the hospital. The nervous weight that had settled in her limbs shifted slightly at the thought. On one hand, she would definitely be safe there. Carlisle would be there. He would protect her. But on the other hand, what was he going to say to a wife who could have sworn blind that her long-dead first husband had appeared out of the blue in a grocery store of all places and vowed his revenge?

"Esme? Esme?"

She heard his voice, the most fearful and panicked she had ever heard him sound in their long time together, and her eyes snapped open. Carlisle was standing over her in the Emergency Room, and his face was a picture of concern, topaz eyes wide and worried. He smiled when he saw she was conscious, but the fraught atmosphere between them remained tense.

"What happened?" he asked softly, lacing his fingers through hers. The touch was comforting and after a few moments Esme found that she could move her rigid limbs once more. She motioned Carlisle to move closer and she spoke in a low voice that only he would hear in the bustle of the bright white room.

"I saw Charles, in the store…" She sounded ridiculous just saying it. "Well, I thought I did. I was petrified… literally."

Carlisle squeezed her hand and gave a weak, sympathetic smile.

"Charles is long gone. He can't hurt you now. You're perfectly safe. Nothing will happen to you here."

Esme looked at him sadly.

"I know. I feel so stupid now. Of course he's not here. But the fear… it was awful… I've never experienced anything like it. Well, not since…"

He cut her off.

"He's gone," he said firmly. "Don't worry. He's gone, Esme."

"I know, but at the time…"

Carlisle pulled her into a sitting position and settled himself on the bed next to her.

"Tell me. Tell me how it felt."

"I'm fine now." Esme made to move away, embarrassed by the fiasco and her reaction to it, but Carlisle pulled her back, his vice-like grip showing no signs of letting go until she shared her feelings fully.

"You are not 'fine'. You keep forgetting to breathe, and you can't pass it off as holding your breath because of all the blood around here. It's too irregular for that. There's panic in your eyes and no matter how many times you reassure yourself it does not fade. So tell me."

Esme sighed, closing her eyes and leaning into his chest, unable to face him and think clearly about her ordeal at the same time.

"I smelled something," she mumbled. "It smelled like Charles used to. That must have set me on edge because the next thing I knew, I saw someone who looked like him and I just panicked. I remembered the fear that I used to have all the time, it hit me like a tidal wave, it was overwhelming."

Esme went over the words he had spoken in her head, debating whether or not to share them. The more she thought about it, here in the bright, rational light of the hospital, far away from her fear, the more it seemed that her imagination was playing tricks on her. In the months after she had run away, Esme had woken up screaming night after night, and he had always said similar things in her dreams. Perhaps the memory of the fear that she had felt in her waking life had sparked the suppressed fear from her nightmares anew.

"Dr Cullen."

Esme looked up to see a nurse standing nervously by the partition. Carlisle squeezed her shoulders and kissed the top of her head before releasing his hold on her.

"I've got to go. I'll be back. Don't be afraid; Charles is gone, Esme."

Esme smiled sadly, still embarrassed by her ordeal. Once Carlisle had left, however, she buried her head in her hands, elbows on knees, stifling her dry sobs. She had just remembered something that she had overlooked in the midst of the chaos, something that had slipped her mind when her terror had set in. Suddenly, Esme no longer trusted her imagination to be the cause of her fear. Her nose had caught the hint of another scent under the spicy cologne...

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TO BE CONTINUED

_So, what did you think? Reviews make me happier than a polar bear in a snowstorm. _


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: **I own nada except the idea.

**A/N: **Ok, updating within 48 hours is a rare thing for me. Just goes to show how much I am really loving writing this story. Hope you enjoy reading it just as much.

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**Haunted**

**Two**

**Edward**

The news – economic crisis, man mauled to death by bear, leading politician in sex scandal – winked out as Bella hit the remote in frustration.

"Why is there never any good news?" she moaned. "News is always inevitably bad."

"Especially when people are going missing and being mauled by bears," said Edward. Bella immediately picked up on the grimness in his voice.

"You don't think it's a bear, do you?" she said nervously.

"No. None of us think it's a bear. We think it's something far more dangerous."

Just then the phone rang, and Edward sprinted to answer it. He picked it up before the first ring had died, recognising Carlisle's extension at the hospital.

"Carlisle? What's up?"

"Esme." Carlisle had rarely sounded as worried as he did then. "Can you come and pick her up from the hospital please?"

"Esme's in the hospital?" Edward repeated in disbelief.

"What?" Bella called from the living room, getting up and running through to the phone as fast as she could.

"She had a funny turn in the supermarket. They thought she'd fainted and called her an ambulance. She's alright now."

Edward couldn't hear Carlisle's thoughts over the phone, but he could hazard a pretty good guess as to what they were. _I hope_.

"Is she ok?" Edward asked. "Being in the ER I mean."

"I discharged her from ER; she's in reception at the moment." Carlisle sighed heavily. "The nearest blood is at least three doors away. In all honesty, I think she's too shell-shocked by the experience to act on instinct."

"She's not the only one. What happened?"

There was a pregnant pause on the other end of the line.

"I don't think it's my place to tell you," Carlisle said eventually. "Esme's upset and embarrassed at the moment. We'll discuss it later."

"Ok..." Edward wasn't entirely satisfied with this non-explanation, but he knew better than to push it. He'd talk to Esme on the way home, read her if necessary to get to the bottom of things. "I'll be there ASAP."

He hung up and looked at Bella, confused and worried.

"Esme's in the hospital?" she reiterated with the same disbelief in her voice. Edward nodded.

"We're going to pick her up. Come on."

"But what happened?" Bella persisted as they got into the Volvo and raced down the drive onto the main road.

"I don't know. Carlisle wouldn't say. We can ask Esme in a minute."

Edward noticed Bella's unconscious glance at the speed. At the rate they were going, they really would be there in under a minute. Edward relaxed his foot on the accelerator in response to her unspoken plea, and the needle gradually dropped back to below eighty.

It took them under ten minutes to reach the hospital, a good half-hour's drive for the regular human, and they hurried through the reception doors. Esme was sitting on a blue plastic chair tucked around the corner, leaning her head against the softly humming vending machine.

"Esme!" Bella ran over to her. "Are you alright? What happened?"

"I'm fine," Esme mumbled, rising from her seat awkwardly. "Nothing happened. Just a misunderstanding."

Edward tuned into her thoughts, easily ignoring the many other voices of the hospital.

_Misunderstanding. Trick of the light. Overactive imagination. It was all a dream._

"Come on Esme," he said gently, placing an arm around her to guide her to the doors. "Let's get you home."

Esme nodded and let them walk her blindly out of the main doors, casting a longing look at ER as they went past. Edward caught a glimpse of Carlisle peering out through the slatted blinds of a consulting room, and he heard his whispered words of reassurance across the parking lot.

It'll be ok Esme. Everything will be fine.

"Esme," Edward said, once they were safely in the car away from eavesdroppers. "Will you please tell us what's happening?"

"Nothing is happening," she said slowly. She kept her eyes on the road, staring straight out of the windscreen, forgetting to blink. Edward kept glancing over at her, trying to make sense of her thoughts. They were simple, repetitive, a mantra to prevent herself thinking of anything else.

_Road. Sky. Trees. Lots of trees. I like trees. Road. Clouds. That one looks like a five-legged zebra. Road. Trees. Sky._

Bella caught his eye in the rear-view mirror and raised an eyebrow to question. Edward shook his head. They weren't going to get anything out of Esme for the foreseeable future.

"Oh no," she said presently, and closed her eyes.

"What?" Edward slammed on the brakes and pulled into the kerb.

"Bella's dinner," Esme moaned. "Everything happened at once, I forgot..."

"It doesn't matter," said Bella firmly. "I'll get take-out later."

"But Charlie..."

"Charlie will understand when I tell him you spent the afternoon in ER."

They arrived back at the house even quicker than the opposite journey had taken, and the door opened before they reached it. Alice peered around the frame.

"I saw what happened," she said. "We came straight back as soon as we could. Emmett and Rosalie are on their way."

They entered the house to find Jasper a little further in. A pulse of calm settled over the group, and its perpetrator came over to Esme, the source of the nervousness that he was trying to combat.

"Calm down Esme," he said, placing a hand on her shoulder, and Edward could see a flicker of worry in his brother's eyes at the sheer amount of tension that he was evidently feeling from her.

"I'll be upstairs if anyone needs me," Esme muttered, shrugging off Jasper's hand and racing towards the stairs. Edward heard her final mental message clearly.

_Please leave me alone._

He sighed and tuned out Esme's voice before turning to Alice.

"What happened?" he pressed as the gathered family made their way back to the living room. "What did you see?"

"I saw Esme in the store, I saw her collapse and then in the ambulance." _Edward, you don't know how scared I was, and then I couldn't get hold of her cell or Carlisle...Wait, something's happening..._

Alice's eyes unfocussed. The future had changed, and she was seeing its outcome. Whilst tuned to her mind, Edward could see what she did, and what he saw did nothing to quell the fears that had been brewing ever since he had first answered the phone. Firstly, an official from the forestry commission was lying mauled in the woods, an unfamiliar face with blood red eyes leering up at them from the corpse. Then there was a more horrifying vision. Esme was screaming in pain, the look in her eyes one of unadulterated terror.

"The killer's getting closer." Alice was whispering for the benefit of those who could not share her sight. "He's being methodical."

"It's definitely not a bear then," said Bella, panic choking her voice.

"Does he want Bella?" Jasper asked.

"No..." Alice was still focussing, wide-eyed, into that awful second vision. "He wants _Esme_."

"But that's impossible!" Jasper exploded. "Trackers don't hunt other vampires!"

Their thoughts drifted involuntarily to events earlier in the year, when the first pieces of Alice's history had begun to unravel after James' revelations.

"What happened to Esme before she was a vampire?" asked Bella, but before anyone could reply, the front door burst open again.

"Where's Esme? Is she ok?"

"She's upstairs. Emmett. Emmett!"

Emmett paused halfway up the stairs.

"She wants to be on her own."

Emmett grunted and returned to the ground floor, coming into the living room with Rosalie. They sat down with the others and Edward caught Rosalie's thoughts.

_Something has gone very wrong somewhere along the line here._

Aloud she spoke to Alice.

"Have you seen any more of our mystery 'bear'?"

Alice nodded sadly.

"He's linked to Esme..."

_That explains it._

"... I just can't see how. He's not close enough for Edward to read him yet."

Rosalie looked at Edward expectantly.

_But you can read Esme._

Edward looked pained, hoping that his expression would convey his unwillingness.

"He's changing course," said Alice suddenly. "He's going to end up at the hospital."

"Carlisle."

Emmett, Rosalie and Jasper jumped up in unison.

"He's just hanging around. He's not going to strike. He's just watching."

The others sat down again with a slight but not complete feeling of relief.

"That settles it though," said Edward darkly. "He's tied up with Esme. Could you draw him Alice? For the benefit of the gathered party."

"I could try."

Alice's eyes wandered to the middle distance as Jasper placed a pencil in her hand and guided her to a piece of paper that Rosalie had torn out of the back of the nearest book. Edward hid his grimace on seeing such a good piece of literature so mistreated. Their priority was intercepting this maniac before any harm could come to the woman they all loved as a mother.

"I don't recognise him," said Alice, turning her thumbnail sketch to the rest of the group. "But then none of us would recognise him from her human life. We've all been with her all the time since she was changed, one or other of us..." She tailed off and turned to Edward. They had all heard his story of leading the nomadic life for a few years.

"Carlisle's always been with her," he said in answer to the question that no-one quite knew how to formulate. "I'm not sure whether he would know him or not."

"Do you think it's like James and Alice?" Bella asked. "He was hunting her whilst she was human but she became a vampire before he could strike? Now he wants revenge so he's just going to kill her?"

Edward sighed.

"Carlisle didn't change her to save her from another vampire. There _were_ no other vampires in Wisconsin at the time. That said..." He paused. "It does seem to be the most plausible explanation."

"Look, what actually happened during Esme's human life?" asked Bella. "You must know something, maybe that would have a bearing on it."

Edward gave her a brief, clinical account of Esme's early life, focussing as little as possible on her 'unhappy' marriage. He knew how much Esme hated it being brought up. She had worked long and hard to forget that torturous period in order to concentrate wholly on her wondrous new life and love. She could talk candidly about her suicide and her son, but even after all these years, she was still afraid of Charles Evenson. At the slightest mention of him she clammed up, retreating into her shell, blocking out everything and everyone.

Much like she was doing now.

"Do you think?" Bella began, the first seeds of a theory planted in her mind. "No, that's ridiculous."

Edward nearly cursed out loud in his frustration at being unable to hear her thoughts. At that point in time, any explanation was better than none.

"Carlisle's coming home," said Alice. "Dr Snow's told him to take care of Esme. He wants us to have a family conference about the unwanted guest."

"And what is the unwanted guest doing?" Edward asked, anxious.

Alice shook her head.

"It's grey. He hasn't made any decision yet."

"Does Carlisle know he's connected to Esme?" asked Jasper. Alice shrugged.

"I'd better take Bella home," said Edward. "If he does decide to follow Carlisle... Even if it's Esme he's looking for, I don't think that would stop him investigating her tasty human friend."

Bella protested but Edward didn't take no for an answer, even when Alice confirmed that the tracker had decided to stay put for the time being.

"He might change his mind at the last minute," he said darkly, handing her into the Volvo. "I'll tell you what happens at the meeting."

"You'd better," said Bella. "I want a second by second account."

She glanced back at the house in the oncoming dusk and sighed sadly at the uppermost window on the east facade. Edward knew what she was thinking without having to ask or read her. She, like he, was praying that everything would turn out for the best, for Esme's sake alone.

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TO BE CONTINUED

_You know how happy reviews make me... _


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: **I own nada except the idea.

**Note: **Another update within 48 hours? Amazing!

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**Haunted**

**Three**

**Carlisle**

Carlisle sat in the drive for a while after switching off the Mercedes engine. Not for the first time in his long life, he was faltering as to his course of action. When Dr Snow had suggested he take the rest of his shift off due to his seeming 'out of sorts' after Esme's admittance, Carlisle had jumped at the chance. He wanted to talk to Esme, reassure her, find out exactly what had happened, but in order to do that he would have to spend hours slowly chipping away at the barrier she chose to build around herself whenever her loathsome first husband crossed her mind.

Carlisle was a man of virtually limitless patience. During their eighty years together, he had helped Esme to overcome so much of her trauma. She had slowly learned to accept his confidences as a friend, his attentions as a husband and his ministrations as a lover, and Carlisle would not have hurried the process for the world. He would wait forever for his wife if he had to, but life wouldn't. The unexpected arrival of a nomad, a merciless, methodical nomad leaving no attempt to cover his tracks, was a concern for the family, a very pressing one. They didn't want to risk exposure, but at the same time they didn't want to have to move on so soon either, especially when Edward had finally found happiness. On another hand, Carlisle hated conflict with others of their kind. He was torn, torn between comforting Esme and confronting the pressures of the outside world. The family needed to talk, he decided, but that could wait a while. His priority at this point must be Esme.

He entered the house quietly, matching the sombre mood of those inside.

"We can't start yet," said Alice, looking over the back of the sofa from the living room through to the hallway. "Edward's not back from dropping Bella. He'll be here in a couple of minutes."

Carlisle nodded.

"I take it Esme's upstairs?"

"Yes," Emmett's voice replied. "Edward says she doesn't want company, but I'd guess you'd be the exception."

Carlisle raised an eyebrow and made for the stairs. It was not often that Esme shunned him, but it had been known to happen on occasion. He reached the door to their bedroom and knocked softly. Receiving no reply, he pushed open the door a fraction and peered in.

"Esme? Es?"

The only sign of habitation was the violently shivering lump in the bedcovers. Carlisle started, quickly entering the room and locking the door.

"Esme, what's wrong? Please Es, tell me what the matter is."

He got no response. Shaking his head in confusion, Carlisle pulled off his shoes and slipped into bed beside her, lab coat and all.

"Esme, sweetheart..."

He placed a gentle hand on her arm and she pounced, throwing off his touch and attacking him, clawing and kicking blindly. Her eyes were screwed up in anguish and she was crying out in a tone so wild and frantic it made Carlisle's heart break to hear her.

"No, no, Charles, NO!"

"Esme, it's me, please, it's Carlisle, you're safe, Charles can't hurt you, Esme, look at me, please." He desperately wanted to touch her, to comfort her, but he feared an even more violent reaction. Presently she kneed him between the legs and her eyes shot open at his involuntary hiss of pain. She froze when she met his gaze, quivering hands coming up to her face in shock.

"Oh Carlisle... I'm so sorry... I was in such a state, I thought, I thought you were Charles, I'm so sorry..." She tailed off, looking down at his crotch and up at his chest, moaning softly on seeing the three long rents in his sweater that corresponded to her wildly flailing fingers. She burst into loud, tearless sobs and buried her face in his shoulder.

"It's ok sweetheart," he soothed. "You've had a terrible day."

"I hurt you," she choked. "I thought you were Charles and I hurt you."

All of her defences were down. Carlisle could see that clearly. The barrier had gone, swept away by the events of the past few seconds. He wrapped his arms around her tighter, stroking her hair.

"Esme, please tell me what's going on," he whispered. Before she could reply, another voice permeated the room from downstairs.

"Is everything all right up there?" It was Jasper, no doubt responding to the intense and unassailable wave of fear that was emanating from their room.

"Yes," said Esme. "Oh lord, now what will they think? What kind of a wife am I?"

"Edward's back," said Rosalie. "We can have our meeting now."

Carlisle glanced down at Esme. If he didn't take this opportunity to talk to her without her defensive wall now, he might never have it again.

"We'll be down shortly."

They were left alone again.

"Es, this isn't like you. What's going on?"

Esme took a deep breath.

"In the store, when I saw Charles. He spoke to me. He said he was going to get me. He said he'd spent a long time finding me and that he was going to teach me a lesson for running away."

"Oh Esme.." Carlisle buried his face in her hair to hide his own weakness. He needed to be strong for her in the midst of her emotional upheaval. "Charles can't get you, not now."

Esme shook her head.

"Yes he can," she sobbed. "Because there was something else. Another scent, not just Charles himself. I smelled..."

"What?"

Esme's voice was barely audible even to Carlisle's hearing.

"Vampire."

Carlisle froze. Suddenly everything fell into place. The vicious new nomad getting closer, the trail of corpses he was leaving behind a cryptic and grisly warning.

"Dear God..." he whispered. He lifted Esme's chin so that their eyes met. "Esme, I will never let anything happen to you. Never."

Esme nodded.

"I know you won't, I know you would never... But Carlisle, what are we going to do?"

The sheer terror in her voice made Carlisle's jaw set.

"We're going to kill him," he growled.

"I heard talk of a family conference," Esme breathed.

"Yes. It's just become even more serious. There's no time to lose."

Carlisle kissed the top of Esme's head before sliding out of bed and offering his hands to help her pull herself up. As soon as her feet touched the floor, she stumbled like Bella so often did, her knees still like jelly. She began to shake again.

"Carlisle, look at me, I'm such a wreck! If this is want Charles can do to me now, who knows what will happen when..."

"There won't be a 'when'. There's seven of us and one of him."

Carlisle picked up his shivering wife and carried her downstairs into the living room, where five anxious faces met them.

"We're all here for you Esme," said Jasper. The waves of calm he was sending over the group were heavy and noticeable, but they were having little effect. Everyone was too scared, too tense or too angry to be affected by Jasper's ability, and in turn their violent emotions were weakening his own empathic gifts.

"I take it that you know, through one guise or another, what this meeting will be about," Carlisle began, settling himself in an empty chair with Esme curled in his lap, her frightened stranglehold on his neck showing no signs of loosening. "I take it you also know that it is now more of a battle-plan than a meeting."

Alice nodded and nervously pushed her drawing towards Carlisle and Esme.

"This is the rogue," she said. "Although from what we've heard, I guess you don't need my sight to put two and two together." Esme froze when she saw the sketch, her already tight hold on Carlisle gaining strength. "Either way, this is the person we are up against."

"This _creature_ is Charles Evenson. He should have died at least forty years ago."

Emmett let out a low snarl at the name. They all knew Esme's terrible history, and Emmett more than most had been angry that Evenson had never been brought to justice for his crimes.

"We'll burn him," he growled. "Rip him, burn him..."

"Emmett!" Carlisle called for order. "We don't know what he can do."

"We know he's alone," said Emmett. "We can take him easily, sheer numbers."

"And if he has gifts like Jane and Alec?" Carlisle closed his eyes against Emmett's cursing. He was in complete agreement with his son; he wanted nothing more than to see Evenson burn, to see justice for his Esme, but they had to be rational and think logically. "We can't strike until we know what he plans. Alice?"

Alice shook her head.

"It's still grey." He still hasn't decided. He's on the move again, getting closer, but once he reaches the forest, there is another decision to be made. He hasn't chosen his path yet."

"Then we'll catch him in the forest," Emmett roared. Rosalie held up an arm to stop him.

"Carlisle's right, we need to know what he can do. A skirmish perhaps, a reconnaissance party."

Carlisle nodded. Rosalie had the right idea. Suddenly Edward's cell phone rang.

"It's Bella," he said before answering. "Hi. What's up?"

"Edward, I've found some stuff," said Bella's voice on the other end of the line. "The rogue vampire, it's..."

"Charles Evenson," Edward finished for her. Esme shivered anew at the mention of his name.

"Yes, but that's not all. Edward, you've got to come and have a look at this."

"I..." Edward looked to the others for guidance. Carlisle nodded his assent.

"Anything to help us fight him."

"I'm on my way," Edward told Bella before hanging up. He went to leave but Esme called him back, her voice croaky with choked fear. It was the first time that she had spoken since Carlisle had brought her downstairs.

"Edward, stay with Bella. Protect her. Just in case."

Edward nodded and disappeared. The others turned to Alice, who shook her head sadly. There was still no set future. Rosalie and Emmett had already left them to search the forest, find out what they could. Carlisle held Esme closer.

"And now," he said, the softest of growls in his voice, "we wait."

* * *

**TO BE CONTINUED**

_You know how happy reviews make me... _

**PS: **There is a reason why Esme is so much weakened by Charles' presence and mention. All will be revealed next chapter!


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: **I own nada save the idea. And Mrs Hills and her journal entries, which I spent most of last night writing.

**Note: **Thanks for the continued support guys! I'm loving writing this fic at the moment. Updating the next day is virtually unheard of for me, I must be having a good time! This chapter is the 'explaining' chapter, so a little less action/interaction focussed. It overlaps chapter three.

* * *

**Haunted**

**Four**

**Bella**

Bella sighed as she waved Edward away and let herself into the house. She hated it when he left her like this, even if it was only for a few hours. It made her feel so pathetically _human_. Edward's family was facing crisis and Esme, sweet, caring Esme who already loved her as one of her 'children', was in peril from a vicious unknown, and there was nothing Bella could do to help. Then again... Bella's theory from earlier resurfaced in her mind. Perhaps he was not quite such an unknown after all.

"Hey Bells," Charlie called through from the living room. He was watching some kind of sport, but Bella had no inclination to find out which. "Good day?"

"Well, it was, erm, interesting." Just then her stomach growled loudly and she remembered just how long ago her lunch had been. Charlie peered round the door.

"Didn't the Cullens feed you?" he asked, eyes narrowed.

"Yeah, that's the interesting part. Mrs Cullen spent the afternoon in ER, so the family's a little tense at the moment and we kind of forgot to eat."

"Esme in ER? Is she ok? What happened?"

"She fainted in the store." It felt strange, knowing that it couldn't be true but also knowing that Charlie would find nothing out of the ordinary in her words. "She's ok. Carlisle's looking after her at home. I was going to get a pizza unless you left something in the fridge."

"There's tons of stuff in the fridge Bells. You always make too much for me, you'd think I couldn't cook or something."

"I don't think, I know." Bella went over to the fridge and put some leftovers on a plate, not really caring what she was eating, just anxious to get upstairs and get working on her research, grim as it was going to be.

"Well, I hope she's ok," Charlie concluded.

"Yeah, me too."

She bounded up the stairs and switched on her computer before he could say anything else. Finally the search engine loaded and Bella typed in the first thing on her mental list.

_Charles Evenson._

Esme's first husband. Edward had glossed over his role in Esme's life but Bella was certain that he was a key element in this mystery. There were thousands of results, and Bella had to conclude that there had probably been more than one Charles Evenson in the United States since the dawn of time. She tried a different approach, and this time she found what she was looking for. It was a link to the archives of the _Columbus Herald_, specifically an obituaries page from 1923.

_Charles Evenson, missing since May 1921, has been declared legally dead by authorities. _

His death had never been confirmed. There was always the possibility that he had not actually died. There was always the possibility that he had been turned...

Bella typed in something different.

_Vampire sightings in Columbus OH 1921._

Again she found a link to the_ Columbus Herald_, and she followed it out of interest. It was only a short piece, towards the bottom of a page, but it served its purpose well enough for Bella.

_After the discovery of another mauled body in the forests outside Columbus this morning, the third in as many months, authorities are organising a bear cull in an attempt to curb these tragedies before the game hunting season begins. Some superstitious locals, however, believe the animal attacks to be much more sinister in nature, some even blaming vampires for the recent bloodshed. _

Bella sighed. She had evidence to suggest that Charles Evenson was still alive, and that he was a vampire, but nothing to link the two. In a last ditch attempt to find something she typed everything she could think of into the search bar, expecting either an error message or yet another link back to the _Herald_ archives. She was surprised, therefore, when the first entry was someting completely different.

_Fact or fiction_, it read. _Eyewitness accounts of supernatural and mythological occurrences._

Bella followed the link and found herself viewing the pages of an old diary which had obviously been scanned in. She read the caption that accompanied it.

_Diary of Mary Hills, b. 1895 Columbus OH, d. 1967 New York City NY. Kindly donated by her great-grandson. Mrs Hills was known to be an avid reader of gothic literature, particularly the novels of Ann Reynolds. Her journal is of particular interest since it appears to blur her everyday accounts of life in Columbus and later New York, with her own imaginings, seemingly with no warning as to where the two converge, and no evidence to show that Mrs Hills believed there to be any difference between her imaginary, gothic world and the real one in which she lived. People who have read these journals believe this to be proof that such gothic phenomena truly exist._

Bella looked up to her bookshelf and her compilation of Jane Austen, eyes settling on _Northanger Abbey_, another tale of life and imagination blending together. She turned back and began scanning through the diary pages. Luckily only the ones pertaining to strange occurrences were posted – Mary's entires were daily without fail and extremely detailed. Finally she found what she was looking for.

_Another bear attack today. Bears my foot. There haven't been bears in these parts for months. No, something much more evil is at work here. We'll prove it. Speaking of evil, Charles Evenson is still missing. It's not like when Esme left. There's no sign of him, no sign of where he's gone. It's like he's just vanished into thin air. Maybe he was kidnapped. Good luck to them I say, no-one round here's going to pay ransom for a man so awful he forced his wife to leave the state. Oh, I know what they say, that it was Esme's fault, she was playing around and got into trouble but I know our Esme. I know her husband. She'd be dead as soon as look at another man. I was scared of Charles Evenson, and I wasn't the one who had to face him behind closed doors after a couple of drinks... _

Bella's breath caught in her throat. No wonder Edward hadn't lingered on Esme's story. Her marriage wasn't unhappy, if Mary's account was anything to go by, it was downright life threatening. She skipped a few pages to the next entry mentioning Charles.

_Of course, _Mary wrote,_ no-one believed me when I said I'd fainted because I'd seen a man who's been officially dead these past two years. They all attributed it to my condition... _Here she broke off into some details about the progression of her pregnancy that Bella skimmed over impatiently. _But still, I'll maintain till my dying day that I saw Charles Evenson this morning. His eyes... I've never felt so much fear in my life. All the old uneasiness was increased tenfold as I stared into those eyes, and I'll swear they were blood red. Then everything went black, but I knew it was a warning. I prayed for Esme this evening, not that I don't always. I still think she's out there. Something in me refuses to believe that she's dead. Please Lord, never let their paths cross again. Keep her safe from the new monster that the old monster has become. _

That settled it. Bella pulled out her cell phone, double checking her facts against Mary's theories. Charles was the rogue vampire worrying Forks, and Esme had seen him. Like Mary, she had fainted. Bella bit her lip anxiously as she keyed in Edward's number. If that was Charles' gift, the gift of fear, then the battle would not be so easily won.

"Hi." Edward's voice answered the phone. "What's up?"

"Edward, I've found something, the rogue vampire, it's..."

"Charles Evenson," Edward interrupted quickly.

"Yes." Bella didn't waste time wondering how he knew, putting it down to finally accessing Esme's mind. "But that's not all. Edward, you've got to come and see this." She didn't trust her rickety computer to send an email so easily lost in cyberspace, and Edward could probably be at her house in the time it took her to send it.

"I..." Edward paused. "I'm on my way."

They hung up at the same moment and Bella tagged the page, going on to read more of Mary's story. There were still two more pages she was interested in.

_I saw him again, _another entry read, a few months later. _And, of course, I fainted again. But Roger was with me this time. He didn't faint, and I thought he'd make fun of me but no. He said he felt it too, and he never really knew the man like I did. He caught me when I fell, but other than that he couldn't move, he said. It was like he was transfixed by those eyes, jet black this time, more like the eyes of the monster I knew before. He felt the fear as well. _

"Oh no." A voice behind her made Bella jump, then she felt Edward's arms come down either side of her and his chin rest on her shoulder. "Go back."

She clicked back and let him read the other diary entries she had marked.

"Does that help?" she asked.

"Well, we know what we're up against." Edward sighed. "A vampire who can inspire paralysing fear, this is worse than we thought." He placed his cold hand over Bella's on the mouse and began to look through the entries again, scanning through the pages so quickly that Bella's human vision couldn't comprehend them.

"No wonder Esme's got it so bad... It was worse for Mary than for her husband because she was already scared of him. Esme... she must be petrified, worse than petrified..." Edward pulled away and dialled his home phone, and Bella clicked to print the entry that she hadn't had chance to read. He shook his head when there was no reply, trying different numbers one after the other, his fingers a blur over the keys. No one was answering.

"Alice, why is no-one picking up? Charles inspires fear, that must be his gift, ring me back as soon as you get this message!"

He repeated the same message to Carlisle and Emmett before sitting down on Bella's bed heavily.

"What do you think has happened?" she asked tentatively, sitting alongside him.

"I don't know Bella. I honestly don't know."

* * *

TO BE CONTINUED

What's happened at the Cullen house? All will be revealed soon! Sorry for another cliffie Anne Lynn, hope your heart holds out!

(Ann Reynolds' most famous work is 'The Mystery of Udoplho', and Jane Austen references it several times during Northanger Abbey.)


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: **I own nada save the idea.

Ok, I wrote the majority of this chapter today, whilst on an adrenaline rush. If you've seen my profile, or I may have said in a message to you, you'll know my house flooded last night. If it seems a little funky in parts, attribute it to my being wired from only getting two hours sleep.

* * *

**Haunted**

**Five**

**Jasper**

The atmosphere was so tense that it was almost palpable, and Jasper was trying his hardest to dissipate it. They'd had no word yet from the hunting party, and the silence in the house was all-encompassing. Alice shifted in the seat next to him, her eyes unfocussed, trying in vain to see the outcome of a decision that had not yet been made. Esme seemed to be calmer than when she had first come home; perhaps Carlisle and Jasper's presence was helping her at last. She had moved off Carlisle's lap and was sitting beside him, curled up with her head resting on his chest. Her eyes were closed and she was perfectly still, feigning sleep. Carlisle, like Alice, was miles away.

"Carlisle." Alice's voice was low and emotionless, but Jasper could feel her worry acutely. "In three minutes ten seconds, your phone will ring. It is the hospital, they want you to treat a victim at a car-crash site with severe head trauma. They have decided that they will call Dr Strider if you don't answer, but they know that you can get there a lot quicker than she can."

"Will the victim survive?" Carlisle asked quietly. Alice's eyes were wide as she looked into the future.

"I don't know," she whispered mournfully. "I need your decision first."

Carlisle was silent, and Jasper could feel his frustration, his compassion for humankind battling with his love for Esme and his wish to protect her; a promise to aid the injured against a promise never to let anything happen to his beloved.

"Go," Esme whispered. "If you don't go, nothing happens here, and this poor soul dies because Strider couldn't get to him in time, then you'll feel guilty for a long time to come. I don't need Alice's sight to tell me that."

"But what if I do go and something happens here? I'll never forgive myself for that, surely you know that as well. I promised I wouldn't let anything happen to you. I said Charles couldn't hurt you and now..." Carlisle threw his head back against the sofa with a sigh, and Jasper knew that if vampires could produce tears then they would be flowing freely now. On cue, his cell rang. He pulled it out of his pocket and looked at it as it buzzed away, the caller unaware of the anguish they were putting him and, indirectly, Jasper through.

"Carlisle Cullen," muttered Esme, "if you do not take this call, I'll... I don't know what I'll do. Alice?"

Alice shook her head with a sorrowful smile.

Carlisle took a deep breath.

"Dr Cullen speaking," he said, answering on the last ring before voicemail cut in. Jasper didn't try to listen to what the hospital was saying. He was too much concerned with trying to combat Carlisle's intense guilt, but he couldn't think of the correct state of mind to counter it with.

Eventually Carlisle hung up and turned to Esme, taking her face in his hands and kissing her lips. Jasper turned to Alice but she was back in the future, watching the consequences of Carlisle's decision.

"We'll take care of Esme," he promised, still gauging Alice's emotions carefully. Finally, she felt relief.

"He'll live Carlisle, but you'll have to get a move on. And..." Her eyes unfocussed again. "It's grey, but you might want to ring Dr Strider anyway, I can't see why."

Carlisle kissed Esme again and murmured "I love you" before leaving them. Esme curled up into a ball, missing his touch already.

Jasper didn't know how many minutes passed before the still silence of the house was broken again, but when it was, everything seemed to happen at once. The front door crashed open, causing everyone to start and Esme to close her eyes with a whimper.

"It's impossible!" screeched Rosalie, suddenly in the living room beside them, her bramble-filled hair evidence of a frantic sprint through the woods. "His gift... I only just managed to get away. Emmett's _frozen_. He can paralyse through fear, that's what he does, he was gloating... I ran before he could turn on me."

"It's not permanent," Alice said, her head on one side as she saw the future. "Emmett will be fine in a few minutes. He's left him, his path is still changing. It's so hard to see, he's so indecisive, leaving his decisions to the last minute."

"Jasper, we need you," said Rosalie. "Courage, anger, anything that will work against fear."

"Oh no," said Alice, her terrified eyes miles away. "He was waiting for Carlisle to leave. He's coming..."

Rosalie ran over to the wall panel to lock down the house but it was too late. A cannonball of a vampire smashed through the plate glass wall, landing in a sea of crystalline shards and getting to his feet in less than a second. There was no mistaking the figure in Alice's sketch, and Jasper felt Esme's inherent terror immediately. He flooded the room with anger, the anger he himself was feeling that this beast had dared to threaten Esme. Alice and Rosalie sprang forward and down into defensive stances in one fluid motion, but Charles barely seemed to notice, careering onwards past their vicious assault towards his prize; towards Esme. Jasper hurled himself between them with a growl of rage, taking the impact of a hit that sent him flying towards Esme's sofa. Esme made to stand and spring but her knees failed her, and Jasper crashed into her and the furniture, sending them sprawling across the room until Alice and Rosalie pulled Charles off his back.

"Jasper," Esme whispered, her fearful voice barely able to be heard above the growls and snarls of the physical fight behind them. "Help me, please."

Jasper pulled her to her feet, and as their hands touched, he felt Esme's terror as if it were his own, so powerful and debilitating. He forced himself to be calm, to be courageous. They would defeat this creature and protect Esme if it was the last thing they did. Esme stopped shaking and smiled her thanks, and they both turned to join the fight. Instantaneously though, Esme's newly given bravery began to ebb away, and Rosalie yelled to them.

"Go! Get Esme out! We'll hold him off!"

"I can help," snarled Jasper, looking to his mate. Alice had distracted Charles' attacks from Rosalie in order to allow her to talk to Jasper.

"Help Esme! There's no use in all four of us getting stuck! Get out of here!" she hollered the final words before going back in to help her sister. Jasper sent them a final wave of courage before jumping with Esme through the shattered wall. They hit the ground running and carried on, deep into the forest. Behind them, Jasper could still hear Alice and Rosalie.

"What do you see?" Rosalie demanded, her voice echoing in strange patterns as she jumped around the room to avoid her assailant.

"I'm so sorry Rose..."

"Go on, go with them, don't hang around. I can take this brute!"

Suddenly, Alice was running alongside them.

"I saw myself with you when..." She tailed off, unwilling to share her vision. Jasper felt the last vestiges of Rosalie's grim tenacity give way to primal fear, and soon pounding footsteps heralded the imminent arrival of their fiendish opponent. They picked up the pace, Alice pulling along her two slower family members. She came to a sudden stop in a clearing.

"Alice, we have to keep moving," Jasper growled.

"Split up," said Alice. "Mix scents."

"It won't work."

Jasper and Alice turned at Esme's quiet words to follow her gaze. Charles was emerging from the trees, his face calm and placid, smiling almost.

"Why didn't I see this?" Alice whispered, her tone so helpless that Jasper had to reach across surreptitiously and squeeze her fingers in an attempt at reassurance. "I couldn't calculate his speed correctly."

"Now this is very simple," said Charles pleasantly. "If you give me what I want, then I will let you leave unscathed. You already know what I can do with the other members of your little family. Now stand aside, and let me take what is lawfully mine."

"Never." The word was barely recognisable as such within the heavy snarl that surrounded it. Jasper launched forward on the offensive. All the love he had ever felt towards Esme as his mother figure, all the protectiveness, all the compassion; it poured out of him in a stream of violent emotion, battering Charles' feelings of vengeance and malice, but even as he struck the first blow, Jasper knew that it was not going to be enough. Irrational fear ripped through him, and he could feel it locking his limbs into place, making him fall heavily to the ground. Esme and Alice were in plain sight, running at the edge of the clearing.

"Alice! Mom! Run!" he hollered, before he froze completely within himself. Their pace picked up, Esme's fear now intermingled with the surge of pride she felt whenever her family referred to her as their mother in that way. They made it to the next clearing before Charles caught them again, and pride fell away to sheer terror. Jasper tried to send Alice a wave of courage, but his heart sank when he saw her collapse into paralysis too.

_Come on Emmett, _he thought. _Emmett! Rose! Unfreeze! Help us! _

Esme was backing up, and Charles was stalking her.

"Mrs Evenson," he breathed. "At last, we meet again. It's been too long, Esme, far too long. We ought to get reacquainted. But first of all, a little conversation I think."

He suddenly snarled, grabbing Esme by the neck and throwing her against the nearest tree. Jasper heard the ominous creak as the trunk began to split from the impact.

"Why did you leave me Esme?" he asked, as Esme made no move to get up, her terrified, unblinking eyes never leaving his. He took her arm and twisted it up behind her back, and Jasper sensed the sickening pop of bones being wrenched totally out of place. Esme screamed in pain. Her suffering was almost too much for Jasper to bear, his head feeling as if it would explode with Esme's anguish.

"Are you even going to try and defend yourself?" Charles growled, mocking her fear.

Esme opened her mouth and issued a single, heart-rending cry.

"I love you Carlisle!"

Suddenly, through all the torturous anguish and fear, Jasper realised that there was a new emotion. It was pure, unadulterated rage, anger so concentrated that it burnt almost white hot in Jasper's mind. He heard the crashing of undergrowth, and a few seconds later, a thunderous roar came through the trees.

* * *

TO BE CONTINUED.

Yes, it's another cliffie! I'm sorry! Chapter six will be with you as soon as I've, erm, written it. Which won't be long, promise! I might need tomorrow just to sleep and recover from today, but I swear it will be soon!


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: **I _still _own nada save the idea.

Writing on two hours sleep and adrenaline is easier than writing on ten hours sleep and complete lack of adrenaline. Damn.

* * *

**Haunted**

**Six**

**Alice**

Carlisle. Alice had never seen him look so different, so enraged, so _vampire_. He ran at Charles, not slowing from his sprint through the forest, and in that split second, Alice saw that the action was not going to work out in his favour. She wanted to warn Carlisle, to make him slow or change course, but she was still trapped within her bonds of fear. She could not even close her eyes as she watched the scene unfold helplessly. Charles turned to parry Carlisle's charge, and sent him flying backwards. With the vast differences between the two combatants, Alice found it impossible to see how the fight could end at all. Carlisle was physically younger and fitter, but he was an older vampire, and where he was lithe and slighter of build, Charles' advantage of bulk and strength countered his having abused his body with drink during his human life. And, Alice thought, remembering his fearsome eyes, Charles was definitely an established carnivore. She tried to see the outcome but the future was constantly changing with every decision they made. Alice gasped on seeing flames, her fear increasing when she could not make out who was within them.

Once again, the vision changed in front of her eyes, and Alice forced herself out of the disorientating future and focussed on her present, trying hopelessly to move as she watched the vicious combat unfolding in front of her. Carlisle was a relentless aggressor, coming back as soon as Charles threw him away, his determination eventually provoking his opponent into counter attack. Charles left Esme and charged Carlisle, who leapt to avoid him. Their positions had now changed, with Charles being on the offensive and Carlisle defending their prime objective. They came together again and again, snarling, biting. There was no grace in their fight, not like the beauty of martial arts. It was plain brutality. Under the sound of the battle, Alice heard something else. Footsteps running through the forest; one tread light and the other booming. Rosalie and Emmett were mobile again and were on their way to help. A quick glance into the future showed Alice what she wanted to see, but it was still far too fuzzy for her liking. Could Carlisle last out against Charles that long? The latter's gift didn't seem to be affecting him, his sheer rage clouding all other emotions. For the moment, Carlisle had the upper hand, but Alice knew how quickly the tables could turn. Charles flung his arm back involuntarily, and from the sharp growl of pain, Alice knew that he'd been bitten. Again, this was new for Carlisle; he of all the family was the one to keep his teeth to himself. Instinctively, Alice's hand went to her own bite marks, and in that instant she realised she could move again. Across the clearing she could see Jasper getting slowly to his feet. Esme was still motionless, although from her facial expression it was more through pain than fear. Alice scrabbled up and ran over to her.

"Esme, are you ok?" She felt stupid asking it, since the answer was an obvious no, but she didn't know what else she could say.

"No, my arm..." Alice looked down at her left arm, hanging limply by her side. "He's dislocated my shoulder. You've got to help me get it back in."

Alice yelped. This was Carlisle's territory, not hers.

"Jasper!" she called. He bounded over to them, kneeling on the ground beside her. "Her arm," she finished weakly.

Jasper clenched his jaw.

"This'll hurt," he said, "but it's the only way I know."

"I know," said Esme. Her eyes were still tightly closed, and Alice couldn't tell if it was through pain or a desire not to witness the fight in front of her. Jasper braced her shoulder in one hand and took her arm in the other, wrenching it back into place in one sudden movement. Esme gasped in pain but the ligaments began to heal immediately, and in a few seconds she could move her arm once more. Alice opened her mouth to speak but she stopped on hearing a deafening thud from behind her, followed by a nauseating crunch. Against her better judgement, she turned and looked. Charles had gained the advantage and was now on top of Carlisle. From the sound and look of the situation, he had broken several of his bones in the process. Alice forced her mind to stay out of the future. That was one vision that she definitely did not want to see.

"What is it?" asked Esme, worried. She couldn't see past Jasper. "What's happened?"

"Nothing," Alice lied quickly, unconvincing as the word always was. "Come on, we'll get you out of here." She and Jasper pulled Esme to her feet and Alice began to run with her, but Jasper held back.

"Come on Jas! I need you with us!" Alice cried. "Rose and Emmett will be here any second!"

"Carlisle doesn't have a second," Jasper growled. Alice turned and this time she could not prevent Esme from seeing too. Charles' hands were at Carlisle's throat, the pressure formidable. Suffocation was not his aim, it was decapitation. Jasper ran but a blur beat him to the pair. Esme had sprung forward with a snarl.

"Get away from my husband."

She clamped onto Charles' back, her arms around his face to blind him, pulling him away from Carlisle. Like her husband, rage at seeing her soulmate in peril had won through fear. Charles staggered backward, trying to dislodge Esme's hold on him, and Jasper ran to Carlisle, pulling him out of harm's way. Alice knew what she had to do.

She ran, grabbing at Charles' head.

"Esme, let go!"

Esme obeyed, releasing her limpet hold, and in the same instant Alice twisted her arms around. She felt the neck snap, and then someone else's arms were holding Charles as she launched herself backwards using his chest as a springboard; his head coming away cleanly. Jasper caught her as she landed, and no sooner was she back on her feet than Charles was barely recognisable, his body in pieces in Emmett and Rosalie's hands.

"We need a fire, now." Jasper took the head from Alice and the three of them made their way through to another clearing where a fallen tree would provide the fuel they needed. Alice looked back over her shoulder. Carlisle was propped up against a tree trunk, Esme pressed in close to his side, their heads together. Alice could hear the occasional snap of his bones piecing back together, and she looked forward. He was going to be fine, and for now she could leave them in peace, knowing that her intervention would not be required. She followed the others through to the clearing, where the fire was already burning fast. Emmett was standing closest, pretending to warm his hands by the flames, and the smell of charred vampire flesh filled the air thickly.

"Good work little sis," he said. Jasper put an arm around her shoulders and she could feel his grim pride.

"Don't be too congratulatory," she muttered. "I've just killed someone, remember."

"You've just killed a parasite," said Rosalie, "and the world thanks you for it."

"We shouldn't hang around for too long," said Alice, pointedly changing the subject as she looked up at the plume of thick smoke rising into the night sky, and gazing into the future. "Someone will call the fire brigade in about half an hour and athough there'll be no evidence left, we don't exactly want to be caught at the scene of an arson."

Presently Alice's cell phone buzzed in her pocket, and she remembered feeling it ring earlier, during her battle at the house. She grimaced when she thought of the destruction to the living room, but she knew that Esme would be too glad to have her loved ones together and safe to feel any kind of sadness at her ruined dream. Glass was glass, she would say, and could be replaced. Family could not.

She pulled out the phone and listened to the voicemail that it had been so impatient to give her. Edward's voice was frantic.

"Alice, why is no-one picking up? Charles inspires fear..."

"Yeah, we got that," interrupted Emmett with a laugh.

"... that must be his gift, ring me back as soon as you get this message!"

"Well it's a bit late now," snorted Rosalie. "We've done all the dirty work without him."

Alice ignored her and hit redial. Edward picked up on the first ring.

"Alice, what's happening? Listen, Charles..."

"Charles is dead," Alice cut in with a sigh before Edward could launch into a panicked speech. "Don't worry, we're all safe."

"Dead?" Edward sounded disbelieving. "Who killed him?"

"Well, I did actually, but I'd rather not dwell on it."

"Right." There was a pause, Edward thrown off guard. "Where are you?"

"In the forest, about two miles from home. The clearing with the fallen tree. Or you could just follow the smoke."

"Smoke. Ok." Edward paused again. "Is it ok if I bring Bella with me?"

"Depends," said Emmett, grabbing Alice's phone. "You'll have to ask Chief Swan if he's ok with you abducting his daughter and bringing her into the company of seven peckish vampires in the middle of the night."

"Emmett!"

Alice snatched the phone off him and tutted.

"If Bella wants to come it's fine by me," she said. "She's no longer in any danger, from Charles or anyone else." Alice thought back to Carlisle's first appearance in the clearing, his face contorted with anger, and she shuddered at what could have been before chastising herself immediately. Carlisle would never do that.

"She's found something she wants to show Esme, it's really quite fascinating. I'll see you in a moment. Bye."

"Bye," Alice echoed, and they hung up.

"We'd best be going," said Rosalie. "Clean up the house a bit before Esme comes back."

"Unless, of course, she's going to come back to find it in a state. Alice?" Emmett pleaded.

"Come on!" Rosalie dragged him out of the clearing.

Alice fell to looking at the flames, shivering as she remembered the events of the evening. To think how close she came to losing Carlisle and Esme... Jasper's grip on her shoulder tightened, and she felt calm happiness surround her.

"Cheer up," he whispered. "It's over. It didn't happen. Esme and Carlisle are safe now." He paused. "I wonder what Bella's got to show them?"

Alice smiled. She knew, of course she knew, but she wasn't telling.

* * *

TO BE CONTINUED

Gah, another cliffhanger. But I promise, this is going to be the last cliffhanger because the next chapter is the final one!

**Note: **I really wanted Esme to take Charles' head off but after thinking long and hard, I didn't think that would be in character for her. Even though he tortured her, made her life hell and nearly murdered her Carlisle, I simply do not think it is in Esme's nature to kill.


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: **Yet again, I own nada save the idea, Mrs Hills and her diary, and Dr Strider. I forgot to mention her back in chapter five's disclaimer. She's one of my 'stock' characters who I roll out when I need someone in the background. No one special.

* * *

**Haunted**

**Epilogue**

**Esme**

Esme watched her children carry the dismembered body away. It was over. He was gone. The spectre that had haunted her entire adult life was gone. All the dormant fears that Carlisle's gentle love had never quite been able to free completely had lifted, and the sense of release was overwhelming. She buried her face into Carlisle's neck, breathing in his wonderfully familiar scent. Gingerly he lifted an arm and put it around her shoulders.

"Hey," he whispered.

"Hey yourself," she replied against his throat. "How are you feeling?"

"Well, nothing's broken, not any more at least." He paused. "I feel like a human who's been hit by a bus. I never really understood that phrase, but I think I've just learned. I ache all over, but I'll live. What about you?"

"Shoulder twinges a bit. Speaking of living... your car-crash victim?"

Carlisle sighed.

"You've just been through one of the most frightening experiences of your life, you've nearly been killed by your supposedly dead first husband, and your first thought is for some idiot who was going too fast on slick roads?"

"My second thought," Esme corrected. "My first thought was for you, of course."

"I know." Esme looked up to see that he was smiling. "And I also know that you will pester me until I tell you why I am here and not on the main Port Angeles road. I believe that he will be fine. I took Alice's advice and called Dr Strider. As it happened, she was on her way home from Port Angeles at the time and therefore a lot closer than I was. She agreed to take the case. I abandoned the car and ran home. On the way I caught your scent, and then..."

They both knew the rest. Esme would never forget the indescribable feeling that had surged through her on seeing him come through the trees to her rescue. He would do anything for her; he was prepared to kill for her. He was prepared to be killed for her. That was a scenario that Esme would never let come to pass. Love had conquered her fear, and whilst she had Carlisle at her side, Esme knew that she need never be scared in that way again.

"If you could possibly get my phone from where I dropped it over there, I may yet have an update."

Loathe as she was to leave his side, Esme got up and retrieved the small silver object, and she snuggled back in next to him before they listened to the two voicemail messages. The first was a frantic Edward, but Esme had already heard Alice reassuring him in the next clearing. The second was the less familiar tones of Dr Strider.

"Carlisle, it's me, Beth Strider. Just to let you know that the patient is going to be fine, his vitals are stable and he's going into theatre as soon as they reach the hospital. Hope Esme's ok, and I'll see you tomorrow."

"How did she know?" Esme gestured wildly to the phone.

"I think Dr Snow may have told the entire emergency department about your incident this afternoon," said Carlisle, and Esme could tell that he was suppressing a chuckle. "Bad news travels fast, and bad news about your strange neighbours travels faster."

"I daresay that the nurses will be cursing that you survived your ordeal." Esme looked up to see Edward and Bella entering the clearing. "There's nothing like offering a grieving widower a shoulder to cry on."

Esme laughed, but she knew her thoughts were betraying her.

_I was the one closer to being widowed. _

Edward's jaw set grimly, and Esme could tell that he was being mentally assaulted on all fronts with accounts of what had happened in the short time that he had been away.

"How are you both?" asked Bella, approaching them cautiously, almost as if she was she was afraid of hurting them further.

"Surviving." Carlisle grimaced as he shifted position to bring Esme closer to his side, trying to bridge the non-existent gap between their bodies. Bella stopped in front of them, fiddling with the printed page she held in her hands, battered from its trip through the forest.

"Esme, did you know a Mary Hills in your human life? I believe she was born Mary Carter."

Esme cast her mind into her fuzzy human memories.

"Mary Carter... yes, I did know her, we were at school together. Why?"

Bella held out the paper.

"I was looking up Charles online, trying to find evidence to suggest that he was a vampire. I came across her diary. This is the last entry I read, and I think you should see it."

Esme took the page and scanned over it quickly.

_January 10th, 1965_

_I thought I saw Esme today. It wasn't her, obviously, she'd be as old as I am and this girl didn't look a day older than the day our Esme ran away. I still say that's the best decision she could ever have made. Anyway, this girl looked so happy, walking down the street in the twilight, hand in hand with a man who could've been that doctor we had in Columbus way back when we were just girls. What was his name? Cullen I think, or close to that. I'll have to find my old journals and look it up. This girl made me wonder about our Esme. I hope she found true happiness. In fact, I'm sure she did. Just like I'm sure she's still alive, out there somewhere. If the girl I saw was our Esme by some miracle, and I believe wholeheartedly in miracles, then she deserves every happiness that comes her way. _

A lump came to Esme's throat. She had her family, she had her safety and above all she had her Dr Cullen. She had definitely found true happiness.

**FIN

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See, told you no cliffie! Fancy giving me a review for old time's sake? You know how happy they make me...


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